Pluskylang Great Film overall

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

dougdoepke Hard to believe that much of this spectacular was filmed around greater LA— Chatsworth, Agoura Hills, et al. The final charge across open spaces is remarkable for its time. Where, I wonder, did Warners get enough horsemen to fill out the screen. In fact, the entire movie is bursting with massive troop movements that remain impressive. Still, many of those sudden horse plunges during the fabled cavalry charge were brought about by trip wires sending horses and men head over heels. Dramatic, yes; but even crueler since many of the mounts were killed as a result. Thankfully the practice was discontinued largely as a result of the body count here.The storyline fills in a background to Tennyson's famous poem, taking the usual Hollywood liberties with the original. Here it's not just the Russians opposing the Empire: it's also perfidious west Indians. Likely what we would now call Pakistan. Here they ally with the Russians after massacring civilians from the British fortress who believe they're being given safe passage. Of course, this sets up the brigade's desperate cavalry charge in revenge.Certainly, Flynn is at the peak of his swashbuckling career. In my book, he's never had an equal, and a much better actor than he credited himself. De Haviland has only an ancillary role, mainly to provide a little relief from all the guys and inject a little romance and plot rivalry between brothers (Flynn & Knowles). I still don't know how they did the desert fortress. It looks so real I couldn't spot a hint of matting. But did they build it, in addition to all the other expenses. All in all, the production is a marvel, never losing the human element that is always a risk with the new-fangled digital.Anyway, in my little book, it's a look back at vintage Hollywood hitting on all eight even if the message is "rah, rah, British Empire".

The_Other_Snowman This is Hollywood History at its best. It has nothing to do with the real Crimean War, the Battle of Balaclava, or the Charge of the Light Brigade. It has everything to do with Errol Flynn, Olivia deHavilland, Michael Curtiz, and Max Steiner. Basically, this is a quintessential Warner Bros. adventure film of 1936, one of the best of the breed.The story starts in Southern California -- or rather, Northern India -- on the outskirts of the British Empire. This setting had been picked up and dusted off after 1935's "Lives of a Bengal Lancer", and would be recreated for "Gunga Din" a few years later, with the same locations and similar plots. Flynn leads a company of British lancers in skirmishes with the local rajah, the villainous Surat Khan -- you can tell he's the villain because of his evil goatee -- and a betrayal and a massacre leads to a mission of vengeance, which reaches its climax in Tennyson's Valley of Death in the Crimea.Opposite Flynn is, naturally, Olivia deHavilland, without whom Flynn would be lost. Patric Knowles, who played Will Scarlett in Flynn's "Adventures of Robin Hood", is Flynn's brother; David Niven is his sidekick; and Henry Stephenson, Donald Crisp, and Nigel Bruce are the top brass. Director Michael Curtiz brings out another energetic performance from Flynn, although his character here lacks the depths of the heroes of "Captain Blood" or "The Dawn Patrol". Max Steiner's score complements the action perfectly."The Charge of the Light Brigade" is quite an epic production, and notorious for the number of horses killed in the battle scenes. That knowledge puts a bit of a damper on the excitement, but it also led to the safety restrictions in place today, banning trip-wires and ensuring the well-being of animals in movies; so, ultimately a good thing. No such measures were ever taken to protect history from the ravages of Hollywood screenwriters: Surat Khan and the country of Suristan never existed, nor did Flynn's 27th Lancers, and although there was indeed a charge at Balaklava, it didn't happen for the reasons depicted in this film. But Flynn and Curtiz didn't care, and neither should the audience.

LeonLouisRicci The Hollywood studio system's conglomerate of talent was starting to coalesce in the mid to late 1930's into a near perfect production machine of a manufactured communal art form. At times the result could be a dazzling demonstration of the Dream Factory's ability to entertain the masses with a film such as this.A slick, glossy, and proud presentation of an historical event, wrapped in Tinsel Town glitter that reflected its lack of concern for accuracy. It did concern itself with the propaganda potential of mass communication and used it with impunity.What a wonderful looking film. The handsome actors and the sprawling finale that, to this day, still manages to get the heart racing. The lavish costumes and impeccable camera work. The rousing musical score and some very realistic "horror of war" scenes despite the restrictions of the new Hays code. You could call this magnificent and it would not be hyperbole.Yes, there is a racist tone and British Colonialism and subjugation is accepted and even honored. But not that much has really changed, even today, has it? We still use the media to exploit political positions and to propagandize.So turn down the lights, draw the curtains, crank up the sound and let the Dream Factory do what the Dream Factory does. Hooray for Hollywood.

raypaquin Let me be clear from the outset. This movie is very well made and very entertaining. As a work of fiction, it DOES deserve a rating of 7 or even 8. The problem, on one hand, is that it is full of historical inaccuracies, not to say outright lies and, on the other hand, that, in 1936 (and even today), most people learned their 'History' through such movies. This had consequences when WWII was declared and pressure was put on the Americans to support the British against the Nazis. I won't even try to make an inventory of the lies contained in this film; this would require about four pages of text. The REAL Charge of the Light Brigade was one of the most stupid military manoeuvres in all of History. This movie presents it as a gallant and brave decision. This fits well with the typical Anglo-Saxon way of depicting 'patriotism'. As General Patton would later put it, patriotism does NOT mean sacrificing your own life for your country, but in insuring that the fellows on the other side do so for their country. 'Nuff said...